Ments



June 3,1930. RDSMITF 1,762,101

TIMER MECHANISM Fil ed Feb 15. 1922 I j 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 3, .1930. R. B. SMITH TIMER mmcmmsm Filed Feb. 15, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V Mywwndfl.

* Mrs RAYMOND ID. SMITH, or imnns'sn'rviumnnw YORK, ASSIGNOR, :BY MESNE;ASSIGN'- MEN'IS, TO TREMONT' rnonuc'rs CORPORATION, or Bos'roiv, MASSACHUSETTS, A 5

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS time MECHANISM Application filed February 15, 1922. Serial No. 536,691.

This invention relates to timing mechanism in the form of an appliance for'causing predetermined automatic operation of an objective device, and has fori'ts object the provision of such an appliancethat shall be simple in construction, easy of application to. the device to be Operated thereby and preferably easy of removal therefrom.

The invention will best be understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying illustration ofone specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig; 1 is a side elevation of a valve connected in a pipe line, as commonly used in connection withYnon-automatic gas water heaters which valve will serve as an example of'any objectivedeviceto be actuated by my approved appliance which is shown 'connccted thereto with its casing partlyomitted.

to show the interior parts.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation looking from the right at Fig. 1, opposite sides of the split casing being partly opened to show theinterior parts. Fig. 3 is a front elevation looking in the same direction as Fig. 2,.but showing only 30 the valve pipe line and the holding rod of my approved appliance.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. with the casing closed, but partly broken away, the parts being shown inthe positions they occupy when the valve is under timing mechanism. V

Fig. 5 is a plan view, taken in section on the line 55, Fig. 1, the band spring being partly broken away to show its connections control of the i for operating the valve, and, the handle for operating the valve beingomitted.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing certain parts appearing in Fig. 4 but in a different position therefrom, and illustrating the lost motion relation between the shaft and its actuating rotor which permits returnmovement of the valve after the rotorihas been cocked.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view'looking at parts of the appliance from the rear or valve side thereof showing theretractablewstops which limit the movementof the actuating shaft and showing the parts as they are posij tionedwhen the valve is open.

Fig. 8 is a view showing the adjustable mounting for the shaft stops whereby the limits of travel of the actuating shaft 'may be shifted in unison, the parts being'posi tioned as when the valve is closed. 7

Referring to'the drawings and to the de scribed embodiment of the invention, I have hereshown "for illustrative purposes a tim ingand actuating appliance which may be readily attached to the oper'atingext'ension of a device to betimed, such as the handle offa gas cock or an electricswitch, such extension herein shown being as the wing han dle of a gas cook of the type commonly used to control the supply of gas to the burner and presents thereby many features of novelty, the invention islimited neither to t Specific! se nor to this specific 'f and as to many of its features may have wide application to widely different uses. 7

In the. drawings I have'shown as the ob- 3;, jective device to be operated, the stem 11 of the gas cook 12, the latter being "located the pipe line 15 which may lead to gas wa ter heater (not shown).

The timing f Q lg mecha is is herein embodied in a self contained appliance, the principal parts of which are enclosed within a casing, the latter comprising split sections 17 and'19 hinged'respectively at 21 and 23. to lugs presented bythe lower ,partof the back wall 25, and normallyheld togetherv at their ends by the spring fasten ing 27 but adapted to be swung open, as indicated in Fig. 2, for examinationor ad justment of the parts within.

, To control the valve, the timingappliance is provided'with an operating shaft 29,'jour naled in the back wall 25 and projecting therethrough for connection to the valve. Shaft 29might be connected fixedly to an actuating power spring but for purposes hereinafter apparent, shaft 29 has loose drive engagement with a spring powered rotor 95 and extends forwardly through the casingof the appliance whereat it carries a handle 31 and means for indicating whether the valve is open or closed such, for instance, as a pointer 33 marked on handle 31 to reglster with words open and closed marked on the outside of the appliance (see Figs. 2 and 4).

At the back of the casing, the projecting end of the-operating shaft 29 has fixedly' secured thereto a hub 35 which carries a clamp member 37. The latter, by means of the straps 39, is adapted to be fastened sevalve cock. With this connection the valve is at all'times under positive control of the operating shaft 29 and the handle 31.

Sinceit is desirable that the casing should remain substantially fixed rotatively at least with relation to the valve, means may be provided if necessary to prevent the casing from rotating with the valve operating handle. .Herein as a simple and effective device for that purpose I have provided a .stiff bent rod having a clamp bracket 47,

by which it may be attached to the supply pipe 15 or to the valve cook 13, the lower end of the rod having a forwardly projecting portion 49 which extends between and in close relation to the two depending lugs 51 and 53 presented by the lower end of the back plate. This effectively prevents any interference with the functioning of the apparatus in controlling the valve, while ermitting'it to be applied directly to the wing handle by a simple clamping operation without the necessity of any careful adjustment or alignment with the actuating shaft 7 with relation'to the valve, or the necessity of universal coupling devices which might be desirable if it were rigidly supported by extraneous means.

It will be understood nevertheless that vmany features of the present inventions as hereinafter claimed areas useful in application to a timing mechanism supported by rigid mounting of its casing and employing someuniversal coupling means as described as in a mechanism suspended from some movable element thereof as is herein disclosed.

In order to limit the movement of the actuating shaft to correspond substantially to the extreme open and closed positions of the valve itself, the rear end of the shaft adjacent the clamp hub 35 has fixedly secured thereto a stop plate 55-having a segmental stop. portion 57 provided with concave shoulders 59 and 61, which in the open and closed positions of the valve are brought into contact respectively with the ends of the stop fingers 63 and 65, the position of the fingers thus limiting the throw of the actuating shaft, which throw herein is substantially 90, to correspond with the usual movement of a gas valve in passing from its closed to its open position or vice versa.

The stop fingers 63 and 65 are pivotally supported at 67 and are normally drawn together by the spring 69 against the edge of the stop disk 55, but either one as a matter of adjustment may be manually or otherwise held away from the stop disk, thus permitting the actuating shaft to be turned a full rotation in either one direction or the other and permitting an increase or decrease in the tension of the spring, as will be seen from the subsequent description.

If the extreme positions of the wing handle 11 do not accord exactly with the extreme positions of the clamp 39, when the casing is held in a substantially vertical position, the latter may be adjusted by adjusting the position of the stop fingers 63 and 65. As shown in Fig. 8, this may be accomplished by mounting'the pivot 67 for the stop fingers on an adjustable plate 71, the later being carried on the shaft 29 for rotatable adjustment thereon and having suitable means by which it maybe set to various positions. For this purpose, in

Fig. 8, the plate 71 is provided with a i series of gear teeth 73 adapted to be engaged by a toothed locking dog 75. The dog 75 is secured to the back plate by screws 77 passing through a slot 79 in the dog, so that by loosening the screws the dog may be withdrawn from the toothed segment and the latter turned in one direction or the other, whereupon it may again be locked in position.

In the illustrated form of the invention the valve, which may be opened by the movement of the handle 31, may be automatically closed after the lapse of a given time by the movement of an actuating rotor released by suitable timing mechanism. Vhile this actuator might be set for automatic action by means other than those herein shown, in the illustrated em bodiment of the invention it is in the form of a tensionable rotor 81 adapted to be set by the valve opening movement of the handle 31, provided the timing element has been first suitably positioned.

To this end, the rotor 81 is constructed in the form of a collar or spool mounted on the shaft 29which may have front 'and back flanges 83 and 85 between which is retained a band spring 87. The rotor 95 is mounted to turn on the actuator shaft 29, but has a lost motion connection thereto through the provision of a tooth 89 (Figs. 4 and 6) carried by the sleeve 91 fixed on the shaft 29, which tooth extends into a quadrant notch 93 formed, in the forwardly disposed hub 95 on the rotor 95.

. v The spring 87 has its outer end anchored to the pivot post 97fixed on the back plate 25, and its inner end, as shown in Fig. .5,

' fixed to a pin 99 in the rotor 95.

ferred to, one end or shoulder of the quadrant notch 93 pressing against the tooth 89 tends, .to move the operating shaft with its handle, and connected valve contraclockwise in Figs. 2, 4 and?) and clockwise in Fig. 8 to a closed position (shown in Figs. 2,, 6 and 8 wh ere the parts are brought to rest-by engagement offthe stop disk 55. with I the stop finger 65:.which appears in'the latter figure only. ..Under this condition, how ever, manipulation of the handle and its valve to or toward a closed position is "pos sible by turningpthe handle 31 in a clock wise direction .inFigs. 2, 4 or Gagainst the resisting tension of the spring. When thehandle, however,. has I been turned clockwise to move the valve into its open'pos'ition (shownin Figs. 4;. and'6), the rotor 95, which is also turned thereby, maybe set or locked by the timer mechanismfherein after described,thuslrelieving the operat-j ing shaft from bias by rotor 95. The.valve handle and the valve, thereupon, maybe moved freely from open position to closed position (Fig. 6). or-vice versa between the limits fined by the stop fingers 63 and 65 because of the lost motion con-' nection provided bythe tooth 89 and the quadrant notch 93. As soonasthe release of the rotor from its set position in Figs. gt or 6 is effected, however, the spring turns the rotor sharply in a contraclockwise direction in said figures, the quadrant notch picking up the tooth 89 in whatever position said tooth niayhave been left and moving the valve .to its closed position,

leaving the timing parts as shown in Fig. ,2.

'lo provide for; thejs etting and releasejof the rotor, I have provided mechanism which as to 7 its principal parts and manner of operation is substantially similar to the timing appliance ,ofmy Unitedstates Patent'No. 1,385,098., granted'J-uly 19, 1.92.

Referring to the embodiment of, this tinn ing mechanism herein-shown, the. rotormay be held in a time-set position by meansof the catch or dog 101.pivotedat.103 on the front fiange'83 of the rotor spool. The

catch lOl has ahead .105 which is normally thrown out to the position shown I inflFig.

6 b means of a spring 107 which forces 'the I I opposite orheel end'o'f thecatch against the 'h'ub95. To cooperate with the catch 101 f 7 there is provided a detent. or trigger- 1 09 pivotedon thepost 97 and normally pressed by thespring 12? toward the stop 110. This detent presents a spuror shoulder 111 which, 1

in its normal position, lies. within the r of the'head 105 of, the catch. When. the

rotor 95 is moved clockwise from itsp'ositionv in Fig. 2- to its positionin 4 against the tension of the spring, the-,catc hfilQl yields from its full line to its roken line po- T sition in Fig. 4 permitting'the head l05 to pass the spur 111, but, on the return movement, of the rotor, the spur intercepts thev catch and servestohold the-rotor 95"set, or cockedso long as the detent or trigger 1,09jis all other timesyielding to permit head 105 to passspur 1111 To look .the detent inits said normal position when desired, but to provide forits release after alapseof rsome predetermined time, thedetenthasia free end 113 cooperatively related to a time; ele

ment, 'the latterinfthe formof ayclockdriven disk 115. The edge of the diskun derlies, the detent end. 113 and-"is provided} 9p locked in its normal position, said detent at with'a notchlll7 which, in the zero'or-nor-I- mal' position of the timer h n i Fig, 2, a L lies po i e detent end 113 and permits. r

the latter to dip, inwardly toward the axis of the disk at the time'catch 'causes spur Fig/1, 4. A

,To adjustablyset the disk :115, the latter is secured to a hub 119, which in -the particular timing mechanism illustrated is fixed on. the shaft spindle 12-1 and carries 1 outside the casing. a combinedihandle' and pointer 123 cooperatively related to "dial graduationsjon thefoutside of the casing which may be 'Inarked to represent elapsed time. In the Zero positionof the time con trol disk 115 shown in Fig; 2, the handle pointer 123 is shown at rest opposite thev zero 7 position on the dial, and would appear as against the pin or other fixed stop 125 innthe casing section 19 .were the casing fully closed. In this positionthe notch 117 registers with the tip 113 of; the detent. so that the .105 111 to yield inpassingsame. When'displaced from; its zero position ,-how.eve r, the I unbroken edge of the disk locks the against yielding as Shown in full line 7 latter is free to dip into the notch as here tofore explained. When the handle pointer 123, however, is turned contraclockwise and the disk 1.1.5 left indi erent po ition such as shown in Fig. 4-, the detent is held the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig; 4, it will be held locked in that osition with the spring tensioned until the disk has been turned back and the notch is again brought into registration with the tip 113 of the detent. lVhen this occurs the pressure of the catch 101against the spur 111 on the detent willmove the latter into the notch 117, the catch 101 will be released and the rotor will snapv suddenly back into its valveclosing position shown in Fig. 2.

To impart to the disk the requisite, slow, clock-driven movements a common form of time mechanism is provided, which herein includes the 'ma inspring 129, a train of retarding gears 131, a hairspring 133, balance wheel 135 and escapement 137, these parts representing merely for illustration the usual units of a time movement. The mainspring-l29 tue'ns the spindle 121 through direct connection thereto,-but movement of the latter is, retarded through the train of gears 131, the largest of which 132 rotates on the same axis as the spindle 12L ihe gear 132 carries the usual pawl which engages with a ratchet wheel at the side of gear 132 and which ratchet wheel has a frictional hold on the spindle which permits itwith its operating handle and the disk 115 to be turned in dependently either clockwise or contraclock- Wise respectively to unwind or to wind the ,mainspring without necessitating movement of'the gear 132. Any usual clock starting device for insuring movement of, the balance-wheel when the pointer 123-is turned back may beemployed, although for simplification noneis herein illustrated.

,The timing device having been applied to the valve as heretofore described, it may be utilized as follows: If it is desired toset thevalve actuatorto be closed after a certain period of elapsed time,for example, thirty minutes,rthe pointer handle 123 will be turned back to' the graduation numbered 30 on the dial. This winds the mainspring a" corresponding amount and at the same time sets the-clock-work train in operation.

I Atthesame time it displaces notch 117 in disk 115 from beneath the end 113 of the detent lever, which latter is thereby held fixed in its full line position in Fig. 4. If the rotor is then moved through (as indicated in Fig. 4) by turning the'valve handle'clockwise to its'position in Fig. 4, the catch 101 yields to pass the spur 111 on the detent, but is intercepted and held thereby when the handle 31 is released. This sets the actuating mechanism and holds the rotor fixed and tensioned. Unless the bandle pointer 123 is meantime moved back to Zero position by hand, the rotor will remain set until thirty minutes have elapsed when the clock-work train will have moved the disk 115 back to bring the notch 11'? beneath the detent lever. When this occurs the pressure of the rotor catch against the detent spur will force the detent into the notch and releasethe catch, allowing the rotor to move sharply contraclockwise from its position in Fig. 4 to its position in Fig.2 and restore the valve to its closed position. It will be observed that when the rotor hasbeen set in fixed tensioned position by movement of the valve handle as described, the latter is freed from the bias of rotor 95 and may be turned freely clockwise and counter-clockwise to open and close the valve, permitting any desired manipulation of the valve incidental to lighting the burner, and also permiting the valve to be left wholly open or only partly open for subsequent closure by the timing mechanism or be manually shut off at any time independent of the action of the timing mechanism. It will also be observed that the time element disk may be manually moved at any time to increase or decrease the time required to elapse. before the rotor is released or to cause immediate release as desired.

While I have herein shown for the purposes of illustration one specific embodiment of theinvention and one specific application thereof, it is to be understood that the same in the illustrated form, or widely differing embodiments thereof, may be usefully'applied to many different purposes including the actuation ofadevices other than the valve herein shown, and that the same is not lim ited to the mechanical details herein shown or to the form or relative arrangement or combination of parts, but that extensive deviations may be made therefrom Without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims:

1. A time control and actuating mechanism carrying at one side thereof rotatable engaging means for attachment to the device to be actuated by said mechanism and carrying at another side a timing handle, said mechanism including a shaft connecting with said engaging means, a spring impelled actuator having lost motion operating engagement with said shaft, a timer governed by said timing handle, and a detent conditionable by said timer to lock and release said actuator in tensioned position.

2. In combination with a device to be operated under time control, an actuating shaft provided with means for operating said device, a loose collar on said shaft having lost motion drive engagement with said shaft, whereby said shaft may impel said collar and at times be movable independently thereof for operating said device, a spring surrounding said shaft for rotatively tensioning said collar to operate said shaft, and time controlled escapement mechanism operative to retain and release said. collar in a position to which said collar may be moved by said shaft for automatic actuation of said device in any of a plurality ofpositions to which it may be moved while said collar is so retained. l i r 3.v In an actuating and timer mechanism for a control element, the combination with a control shaft, a rotary actuator loosely mounted on saidshaft and having a ten-' shaft having meansat the end of said shaft to secure same in operating relation to said control element, a casing, a rotary actuator collar loosely mounted on said shaft within said caslng, a tension sprlng having one end secured to said collar and the opposite end fixed on said casing,a lost motion connection between the shaft and said collar pro-- viding for movement of the collar, to1a sei' tensioned position when said shaft 'is turned in one direction but. thereupon leaving the shaft free for a limited movement ineither. direction, a detent to hold said collar set,- and time control mechanism adapted to'be set to cause the release of said collar after the lapse of a predetermined time, i the spring impelled movement of said collar being adapted to cause the return of the controlling shaft to its initial position.

5. A casing enclosed actuating and timing structure provided externally with means for mechanically connecting the sametothe device to be timed and having internal clock mechanism, a back plateforming one wall of the casing enclosed space and provided with a jog whereby said external connecting;

means and said internal clock mechanism lie substantially in the same .transaxial plane: While separated by said back plate 6. 'A time control and actuating mechanism carrying at one side thereofarotatable engaging'means for attachmentto the device to be actuated by said mechanism and car rying at another side a timing handle, said mechanism including a shaft connecting with said engaging means, a manual for operating said shaft-carried at the same side of said mechanism as said timing handle,-'a spring impelled actuator having lost motion operating engagement with said shaft,

the' said shaft is free to be turned by said manual independently ofsaid actuator.

7. In a timing mechanism,in combination,

a rotor themovement of whichfrom a first definite position to-a second definite position is to be .timedand is to require'in different uses of said rotor a different amount of'power, a power spring connected to urge.

said rotor toward its second position said spring being tensioned to a definite extent a when said rotor occupies its said second position,-a'latch for holding and releasing said rotor in said first position wherein it is displaced less than one full turn from the said second position, and a stop normally con.-'

ditioned to permit the passing of said rotor beyond-its said second position in one direction of rotation and toprevent the passing said rotor beyond its. said second position n the other direction of rotation, said stop being conditionable to permit the passing of said rotor beyond its said second position 1n both directions of rotation for changing .the said definite'tension in said power spring.

8. In combination, a device toube rotated on a horizontal'axis, an operating extension for said device with means to clamp the same to sa'id'device to turn rigidly therewith and approximately in axial alignment, a: power mechanism associated with said exconnected with said power mechanism,-a

.95 rtensionand derivlng the-suport of ltsweight v therefrom, a timing mechanism oper'atively" commongframe and enclosurefor said power" mechanism and for said timing mechanism,

the weight of said timing mechanism and v of saidfra'me being also borne by saidextension, an abutment engaging said frame 'to limit the possible movement thereof without assisting'in the support of its weight, 6 and control manuals, for said extension and for said timing mechanism exterior frame and enclosure. r

testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

"RAYMOND 1 :SMITH.

to said a time governed by said timing handle, and

a detent conditionable by said timer to lock and release said actuator in tensioned posi- -tion after which locking of said actuator, 

